


Countdown

by thewalkingdeadimagines



Series: The King [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Dom Negan (Walking Dead), F/M, Implied Sexual Content, King Negan, Negan Being Negan (Walking Dead), Protective Negan (Walking Dead), Sexual Humor, Sweet Negan (Walking Dead)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26714494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewalkingdeadimagines/pseuds/thewalkingdeadimagines
Summary: In the weeks until their wedding, the Reader grows closer and closer to Negan. From the first arrival at her new home, to the last night before the big day.Medieval inspired AU
Relationships: Negan (Walking Dead)/Original Female Character(s), Negan (Walking Dead)/You
Series: The King [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1943431
Kudos: 13





	Countdown

Warm sunlight streamed onto the woods, enlightening the rich green color as your carriage passed them, down the judder paths that were winding through the forest. Their sight calmed your nervousness a little, along with the rhythmic clopping of the horses and the singing birds outside.  
Still, your hands were so clammy that you buried them in the fabric of your dress and your body was a little tense, with each foot the carriage passed a little more on its way closer to the castle you’d soon call home. It wasn’t a nervousness born out fear, more one that was made of the unknown you’d encounter as soon as you’d pass the gates. A nervousness that had lingered somewhere in you for the last two weeks and was flaring up right in these moments. 

”You do know that we expect you to behave your utmost best, right?”, the voice of your aunt echoed through the carriage, ripping your glance away from the window and directing it right to her face. “Yeah”, you just grumbled, letting out a sigh as you darted your eyes back outside, trying to ignore her for the last bit of time you had to spend with her until you were shot of her once for all.  
Still, she had been a little more bearable since things had taken a turn at the feast. Breaking off your forced engagement to Lance and instead promising your own hand to Negan had worked better than you could have wished for. Lance had thrown a price worthy temper tantrum for sure, and the thought of it still nearly made you laugh out loud, but that didn’t change that your aunt and uncle saw nothing but their win in your the engagement to a king instead of a simple lord. You could have almost seen the gold bars shining in her eyes that night, and you felt like you could do it now as well, but if you were honest, you couldn’t care less. You didn’t have to marry this tyrant anymore and that was all that counted for you.  
So instead of wasting more thoughts on your aunt, or even Lance, you let your eyes sway over your new home, step by step as you discovered more of it and got closer to your destination.  
First, the gates, the garden, the first parts of the castle that led to the courtyard and then from afar, a tall dark figure that made your heart skip a beat. He wasn’t alone there, a couple smaller figures stood beside him but your eyes were still focused on him and his features that got clearer with every bit the carriage moved closer. And now that you saw him, it dimned on you again and part of you began to realize what had seemed way to surreal before: You were going to marry this man.  
And hell, you were going to do so in just three weeks.  
Feeling how the nervousness gained the upper hand of your body again, you glanced back inside and let your fingers dig deeper into your dress, entangling with the fabric as if it would absorb the jumpiness right out of you.  
And then, right as your eyes had fixed on your hands the clopping of the horses silenced and the carriage came to a stop, leaving only seconds until the coachman jumped off the box seat and opened the door for you.  
For a mere second, the bright sunlight dazzled you, only allowing you to hear the heavy footsteps that got closer before you caught him standing in front of you, with his hazel eyes wandering over your face and a roguish grin on his lips, the very same you had seen that night two weeks ago.  
“Well, hello there”, he chuckled, the grin still dancing on his lips as he reached out to you, offering you his hand to help you down the carriage ,”We’ve been goin’ all antsy waiting here.”  
”We are very sorry, the journey here was more weary than we first expected”, the shrill voice of your aunt echoed from the inside out, flattening the grin on Negan’s face for a bare second as his eyes got directed to the woman inside, before they jumped back to you as you made your first step outside the carriage.  
”Thank you”, you mumbled, giving him a small smile as your shoes settled in the crunchy ground beneath your soles and Negan leaned closer, enough to whisper in your ear.  
”Bet that journey was more weary for you”, he quietly chuckled, nodding almost unnoticeable inside while letting the small smile on your lips grow into a grin that slowly loosened the tension within you.  
“Alright, let’s start the introduction round, will we?”, he chuckled, now louder as he backed away again and let your glance first fall onto the three people by the carriage while he made a big step towards the woman who was first in line. She was short and sturdy, probably already in her seventies with frizz brown yet gray streaked hair that was stroked up into a loose updo. Her eyes were surveying you thoroughly as you gave her a smile and received a weaker one back, with a look on her face as if she wasn’t sure what to think of you yet.  
”This is Margret, the damn good heart of this place. Believe me, nothing in here would work right without her”, Negan chuckled, placing a hand on the woman’s shoulder with a bright, warm grin on his lips before he nodded towards the red headed man to Margret’s right.  
”Over here is Robert, he’ll get your luggage up to your room and over there, is Walter the highest butler”, Negan said, motioning over at the tall, gray haired man at the far right. You moved along, shaking their hands and introducing yourself as they bowed or dropped a courtesy while an odd feeling got stirred up in your stomach. You had always been the one to drop until now, you first had to get used to the feeling of being someone who’d be called and treated as a Queen in the matter of a short while, and you had the feeling that this would take its time.  
”Walter, would you get Lady Muriel some refreshment?”, Negan called out to the Butler just as you let go of his hand while he nodded to your aunt with a grin that got replaced by a bit roguishness,”Bet you need that before you make your way back home.”  
“Yes, of course”, your aunt just nodded, not even catching the slight sarcasm in Negan’s voice in all her enthusiasm as she already followed Walter towards the main entrance of the castle, without looking back at neither Negan, nor you, her eyes scanning only over the large property.  
”Thought we could eat at another point, y’know, guessed you wouldn’t be too wild to spend more time with her after that long ass ride alone in that damn carriage”, Negan chuckled as he nodded towards Muriel who was slipping behind Walter into the castle just as his voice hushed.  
”You read my thoughts there”, you mumbled, giving him a small grin before you caught Robert unloading your bags from the carriage while Margret was still standing at her spot, eyeing you before her glance swayed back to Negan.  
“I will see you later, right? Still have to arrange something with you.”  
“Course, Marge. At the latest before dinner, should be fine then”, Negan said, giving her a nod, while your eyes finally tore away from the small woman and instead and for the very first time got to brush over the outside of your new home.  
It was huge, so huge that you couldn’t even see all of it from the point you were standing on. Countless towers soared into the sky, one higher and wider than the other, all adorned with big windows and light gray stones just like the rest of the imposing building. It was truly breathtaking, and it stayed just as breathtaking as Negan finally lead you inside.  
“Welcome to your new home”, you heard Negan chuckle as your eyes ran over the high walls, the luxurious rugs that covered the stony ground and the wide stairs that started in the hall and wound up into higher floors that left you all for a moment speechless.  
“Awesome, huh?”, you heard him add, first attracting your attention back to him as you nodded quickly and watched the grin on his lips growing a little wider.  
“Okay, then let’s start with the grand tour, huh? Don’t wanna bore you with all that dull shit so instead of givin’ ya a lecture about that castle here I’m tryna make it fun, you ready?”

Negan kept the wide, roguish grin on his lips as he started to lead you through the hallways, slowly soothing the suspense you had build up during the ride. He was trying to make you feel comfortable, you could tell, and you welcomed it with open arms. It was already enough to process here for you regardless, not to mention that part of you still hadn’t realized completely that the man who was walking beside you would do so for the rest of your life, so you could use someone who eased the nervousness within you.  
”Alright, here’s the first stop, the ballroom”, Negan said as he finally stopped in front of a large room, opening the heavy door to let you slip inside and take in the beauty of the place. You couldn’t compare it to the one you’ve had at your old home that had usually been converted for other uses and had only looked festive when the rare opportunity of a feast arrived. This one here was more that three times larger, had massive pillars soaring up until they met the ceiling, big yet rustic chandeliers, dark wood covering the ground and pretty flower arrangements hanging down its walls, giving it a somewhat enchanted and cozy atmosphere.  
“It doesn’t always look like this though”, Negan said, stepping a little further into the room as he nodded towards the flowers,”They’re just already preparing it for the wedding.”  
It took you a second before you realized that he was actually talking about your own wedding and not of anybody else, and you could tell by the look on your future husband’s face that he must have noticed it.  
“I know, still seems so far of. Either way, let’s get to the fun little story”, he chuckled, winking at you as if he was trying to loose you a little more up.  
“Had my first drink in there- well, drinks…with fourteen. Sneaked in during a feast of my granddad and hell, snitched all the little rests of wine and whiskey the guests left in their glasses”, he laughed, shaking his had slightly as he ran his palm over his salt and pepper beard,“My dumb ass managed to get so shitfaced that I fell asleep on top of one of the towers, nobody found me till midday on the next day…whole castle was freaked out while I was sleeping like a damn baby.”  
“Oh my”, you chuckled, unable to keep a grin from sneaking onto your lips as you imagined the turmoil he must have caused while Negan shrug his shoulders.  
“And this is only the first story”, he chuckled, licking his lips as he walked back towards you, “And now let’s get to the other stuff, we two got an assload more waitin’ for us!”

Negan didn’t lie. The castle seemed inside even bigger than it had looked outside and even if he just showed you the most important or amusing parts, it still was one long walk. Still, for some reason the time flew past you as you made your way through the building and listened to his little stories that made it seem like the old walls were alive. From the ancestor whose painting was stitched up because he had hid a map inside that lead to the crownlewels he’d hid before he met his dismise, to the room Negan had hid stray dogs in as a kid, fed them and took care until he got busted by accident and still managed to persuade his parents to keep them as guard dogs, to the last stop, the gardens you found yourself in now.  
“They’re too big to cover the whole terrain today so we’ll stick to this part ‘round the castle here for now”, Negan said as you walked down a small path through the well kept bushes and trees, breathing contently in and out while the flowery scent that filled the air painted a small smile on your face. Your muscles were eased now, not as tight and tense as they had been at your arrival and you were sure that you had to thank Negan for this ridding feeling that was coursing through you. There was still some nervousness stuck within you, of course, and it would stay there for sure for some while but he was making this new chapter of your life as easy as he could, and you couldn’t tell how much you appreciated this.  
“Almost forgot it”, he suddenly said, stopping as he reached into the pocket of his pants, struggling for a moment before he pulled a small ring out.  
“No engagement without a damn ring”, he chuckled, giving you a small wink as he held the twinkling jewelry a little up and reached for your hand, enclosing it with his large one in the matter of seconds. His touch stirred something up within you, no uneasy suspense as you’ve had it with Lance for instance, but instead a small warmth that streamed from his hand through your body.  
“Thank you”, you mumbled as he slowly slid the ring on your finger and allowed you to first take in its beauty. The sunlight let the small, white marquise diamond in the middle of the pale rose gold band shine along with the three tiny diamonds that adorned each side of the bigger one, letting it twinkle daintily in the warm sun rays of the evening.  
“It’s really beautiful” you added, your eyes still glued to the ring as Negan slowly let go of your hand.  
“Gorgeous woman needs a gorgeous ring, huh?”, he chuckled, winking at you as you glanced up at him, feeling how the warmth he had sparked before turned your cheeks now into a soft pink.  
“I uhm-”, you stopped, cursing yourself inwardly as you hummed and hawed like an awkward idiot while the grin on Negan’s lips grew a little wider.  
“C’mon, let’s keep walking’”, he said, saving you from more awkwardness as his hand placed briefly on your back, guiding you a little with him down the path.  
The ground crunched beneath your soles as you made your way further past the pretty bushes and flowers while you stayed a little tense, still asking yourself why in hell you couldn’t be a little more casual at this moment.  
“Sorry, that I’m so reserved and a little, y’know, awkward…it’s just a lot”, you mumbled, fumbling on the fabric of your dress as you glanced up at him,”And sometimes, I need a little time to thaw but I’m gonna.”  
“It’s all fine, Doll. Don’t worry, we got all damn time in the world”, he said, letting a reassuring smile mix into the signature grin of his, allowing some relief to flood into you as you strolled further down another part, a little closer towards the castle.  
“Often hid here as kid when I’d fucked something up, worked when I was a little shit, y’know, could easily fit into the bushes with a little work but damn, soon as I was bigger I’d to find some hideouts in the castle”, he chuckled, running a palm over his beard as you kept walking beside him, “One time-”  
He suddenly stopped, as if he was choking on his own words. His feet stopped walking just as sudden, leaving him like glued to the spot as his eyes darted into the distance. Befuddled you glanced away from him, a little confused as your glance swayed to the spot his eyes were staring at, as if he was seeing a mirage. But instead, you only caught another part of the garden that began forty, maybe fifty feet from the your spot, a part that seemed different to everything you had just walked through.  
It wasn’t as neatly kept as the rest, the bushes not as well cut as the others right by your side and even though you couldn’t see much of it from your point, you could still catch the bunch of different flowers and colors that were soaring through the bushes, creating a entangled yet pretty huddle.  
“Y’know, why don’t we go inside? Bet dinner’s almost ready”, Negan finally broke the silence, his voice not by far as casual and confident as usual, but instead daubed with uneasiness no matter the fact that he was trying to hide it.  
“Yeah, sure”, you said, nodding as your eyes stuck for a moment to his face, wondering what was the deal with this part of the garden that seemed so different to the others.

You nearly hurried inside only minutes later, the nonchalant strolling turned into a quicker step until you walked through the wide halls, with your footsteps echoing up and through the high walls until you reached the dining hall.  
Maids and butlers were already setting a table by the large open windows, a small one compared to the long heavy table in the middle of the room that was surrounded by dark leather chairs.  
“When you’re sitting alone there that shit can give you one hell of an awesome feeling”, Negan suddenly chuckled as he nodded towards the long table, trying to overact the last bit of uneasiness that was still laying like a sheet over him before he motioned over at the one by the windows, “But when you’re just two or a few, it’s kinda awkward, ain’t gonna lie. So I let them get the other one ready, a little more private.”  
“Negan? Is it possible to talk to you for a moment now?”, you heard the voice of Margret echo through the room, followed by her footsteps as she entered the hall, attracting your attention. The look on her face was similar to the one you had seen at the carriage, a little tensed, especially when it fell on you and you were still tryin to figure out what exactly bothered her about you. You hadn’t done anything but trying to be nothing but kind to her from the first moment on, so what was her problem?  
“Sweetheart, is it fine if you follow Walter to the kitchen for the last bit of the tour? Don’t want you to have to sit all alone in that big ass hall here”, Negan said, nodding towards the butler who had just adjusted the last bit of cutlery on the table, before a small grin grew on Negan’s lips as he glanced towards you, “If ya got luck they’re already making dessert and you can steal away some dough.”  
“Yeah, sure”, you nodded, watching as Negan gave you another grin before he followed Margret outside to the hallway, tensing visibly as soon as he stepped through the door.  
“Miss? Would you follow me, please?”, the polite voice of the butler sounded through to you, guiding your eyes ultimately away from Negan and towards Walter who motioned towards a door on the other side on the hall, “This way.”

“Your aunt already left an hour ago. She just wanted me to tell you that your last belongings will be brought here as soon as possible”, Walter said as he lead you down a smaller hallway than the ones you had walked through before.  
“She…she is a, well…extraordinary person, if I’m allowed to say so”, he said, his usually straight face loosening a tiny bit in a nervous chuckle that made you pity him for a moment for having to spend just a small while with her.  
She must have beaten his ears until the moment she’d stepped back into the carriage and in a way, it was a talent of him to find such a positive word for her after all.  
“And here we are”, Walter finally said, stemming a door open whose inside welcomed you immediately with a wild mix of delicious smells. As soon as you stepped inside the introduction round started anew, each and every person welcomed you with bows or drops of curtesy as you made the round, introducing yourself, with a part of you still thinking that this wasn’t meant for you but for anybody else.  
“A little foretaste of our soup for the first course”, an older, blonde woman who had just introduced herself as Regina said, passing you a small bowl that contained a deep red soup and a spoon.  
“Thank you”, you said, responding her with a small smile as you took it and watched her disappear back into the huddle that rushed through the kitchen. Trying to not stand too much in their way you moved to the side, scurrying over to the windows that pointed towards the garden as you took your first spoons of the delicious tomato soup that stilled the first little hunger you’ve had developed during the day. Licking your lips free from the red sauce you glanced outside, wondering if this was the part you had explored earlier before you were quickly persuaded from the opposite.  
Your eyes drifted over the entangled but pretty and colorful huddle of flowers that slowly but surely made you realize that this part of the garden was exactly the one that had startled Negan earlier.  
Before, you had only seen some spots of it from afar, but now that you were closer, more and more beautiful details showed itself.  
If you were honest, it looked in its own way even prettier that the neatly kept part of the gardens, with it’s wild mix of flowers and colors that raged over the whole spectrum. There were flowery bushes that loomed high, shining in a bright lilac, a soft blue or white, with small touches of rosé in between. Vines that climbed up a pergola and formed along with hanging plants and baby’s breath its roof through which’s small gaps the sunshine fell to the ground and danced over the grass. Countless sunflowers that grew high and peeked here and there through the bushes or stood tall over the wild flowers and small rose bushes around them.  
“Miss?, Regina’s voice cut through to you, letting you flinch a little as she ripped you out of your nearly trancelike state.  
“Everything alright? Is the soup fine?”  
“Oh yes, it’s delicious”, you said, turning around to glance at her and nodded, watching as her eyes drifted from you for a moment and darted towards the garden, catching what had you so absent.  
“That’s the only part of the garden the King is taking care of all by himself”,she said with a soft smile as she nodded towards the garden,”It’s where the ashes of the late Queen were buried.”  
So that was why. That was why Negan had steered clear of this part of the garden, that’s why had stopped so abruptly. Your heart sank a little by the thought of it, with your own grief of your mother and sister still stuck within you that made you feel even more for him. Yet, you weren’t one hundred percent sure of what to think about it, nor how you should treat this kind of topic. Just because you’d marry soon didn’t mean that you could go full in on each other’s deepest, darkest secrets. Those things needed time, you needed time to open up, and you felt like the same counted for Negan.

Only few moments later you left the noisy kitchen behind, following Walter back through the narrow hallway towards the dining room after the kitchen had almost finished your meals. The new little bit of knowledge you had just gained still wasn’t letting you completely go, some thoughts of yours still pivoted on it until they got directed to a female voice. It wasn’t distant, just behind the door Negan had walked through a little earlier.  
“Yes, I told you to find someone who’s good for you! I didn’t tell you to go marry the first young thing you can get your hands on!”, Margrets voice echoed muffled through the thick door, still loud enough for you to hear it and to let a small shudder run down your back,”This won’t be one of those girls for one night. She’ll be your wife goddamnit. I don’t think you’re even aware of that. She’ll have the same title as-”  
She got stopped as more footsteps sounded through the hall, announcing the maids and butlers that brought the food down to the dining room. You gulped thickly as they got closer and neither Margret’s nor Negan’s voice could be heard, but instead Walter’s as he stepped towards the set table and pulled one of the chairs a little back.  
“If you allow, Miss”, he said with a tiny smile, so small that it was barely visible, but enough to get that he had noticed what words had just echoed through the walls. Nodding you stepped towards him, settling down onto the chair just in the very moment the heavy wooden door flew open and allowed Negan to step inside, along with the men and women that almost hid Margret as she glanced for a brief moment at you, before she vanished in the hallway.  
“If this shit tastes just nearly as awesome as it smells, this is gonna be one hell of a meal”, Negan chuckled, overplaying the tension his conversation with Margret had brought back over him as he gave you a wide, cheerful smile and settled down onto the chair diagonally across from your own. For a brief moment, during the time the first plates got laid onto the table by the staff, you could notice his eyes wandering over your face with a glance stuck within them that made it seem like he was asking himself if you had heard any of his discussion with Margret, especially the end. It swayed quickly off you though as his grin grew just a little wider as soon as you could start with the delicious, lavish food that was being brought to your plates.  
It was another thing you weren’t used to and originally, you would have expected to just be in wonderment about it as you were about everything else, but instead your head kept spinning around Margret’s words.  
They were doing so during the dinner, and they were doing so after you had finished and got finally lead up to your room, high up in one of the higher floors where your luggage was already waiting for you.  
Was that why he had asked you to marry him? Did she give him this advice he tragically misunderstood or that messed with his head to the point that he proposed to you? Hell, did you confirm her suspicions of not being good for him and nothing but a young thing that was just at the right time at the right place? You couldn’t even be real mad at her, you didn’t know yourself.

A part of you kept wondering, not only that night, but also during the next two days that were packed with appointments for the wedding, from first selections for fabrics for your wedding dress, to picking some more flower decorations for the church and the ballroom and uncountable more duties that filled your day and barely gave you the chance to be around Negan, especially not alone.  
And so you found yourself alone in your room in your third night in the castle, laying in your bed, staring at the softly flickering candle on your nightstand while you stretched your exhausted limbs, trying to get a little more comfy underneath the sheets. You should be glad, everybody in this castle was taking care of the wedding, was treating you kind and yet, there was this odd feeling within you that just didn’t go away. Would this be it until the wedding? Would the shared appointments and dinners be all the time you could spend with Negan before you’d marry him?  
Sighing thickly you pushed yourself deeper into your pillows, biting your lip as the light of the candle danced over the walls. You wanted to spend more time with the man you’d spend the rest of your life with, and regardless of this rather rational reason, you couldn’t deny that the feeling of being drawn to him played a just as important role. No matter if you still needed your time to find your place, no matter if you’d be a little cautious at the beginning, you still wanted to get the chance to find your place, get to know who he really was and maybe, maybe even get the chance to know why exactly he had even proposed to you.  
You sunk deeper into your soft sheets, hugging the pillow beneath your head, already on your way to dive deeper into your thoughts before a heavy knock on the door made you flinch up.  
”Hey, Sweetheart…you still awake? Gotta talk to you.”  
Speaking of the devil.  
Within a second you were sitting straight in your bed, with your eyes glued to the door as a small, warm shudder ran through your body and you swung yourself out of the bed.  
The cold wood beneath your feet was spreading goosebumps up your legs as you stumbled towards the door, step by step until you reached it, already catching the shadows Negan’s feet were casting underneath it.  
The soft creaking of the wood sounded through the air as you slowly opened it, squinting your eyes as they got dazzled by the light from the hallway for a second before you recognized the figure behind the door whose hazel eyes glanced down on you.  
“Oh good, you’re not asleep yet”, he said, a small grin painted on his lips as you opened the door a little wider,”Hey, Sweetheart.”  
“Hey”, you mumbled as your glance wandered from his eyes to his figure. He wasn’t wearing the usual garments and the thick cloak, just some pants and a black shirt with a loose lacing at its collar whose cord dangled over his broad chest, right above the bottle of whiskey he was holding in his arms.  
“Think we two didn’t have that much time the last few days”, he finally said, expressing exactly what you had thought earlier before the grin on his lips grew a little wider as he nodded to the bottle, ”Thought we could pop this one here open together. Y’know, wanna get to know my future wife a whole lot more before the big damn day.“  
“Yeah, good idea”, you just said, still a little surprised by his visit, while you gave him a small smile and opened the door a little wider to let him slip in.  
“Alrighty, wanna sit outside? Pretty mild out ‘round this time of the year”, he asked as he steered confidently towards the small cabinet in the corner of your room, grabbing two fancily cut glasses out of it while you closed the door behind yourself and strolled over to him, a little nervous if you were completely honest to yourself, so you appreciated the sight of the whiskey that might be able to loose you a little up.  
“Yeah, sure”, you nodded, secretly damning the spark of nervosity that seemed to turn you into some taciturn little girl while Negan shot you another knowing grin that only sparked that odd feeling in you even more.  
Yes, you really needed that whiskey.

And you got it as soon as you stood outside by the small table, watching as Negan poured the amber liquid into the glasses that twinkled softly in the flickering light of the candle.  
“Well, that got a little much. Not tryna get ya drunk”, he laughed, scratching his beard as he glanced at the glass in front of you, almost filled up to the rim.  
“Oh it’s fine”, you shrugged it off as you sat down in one of the chairs, watching as Negan let himself fall into the one next to you with a small groan.  
“So no cheap-drunk?”, he asked, giving you a small grin as he grabbed his glass and leaned back into the backrest, shifting a little to get comfortable.  
”Nah, not usually. Mostly just get more direct and talkative”, you mumbled, before a small, nervous chuckle left your lips as you reached for your glass and glanced at the whiskey inside,”Well, but that’s probably good”  
“Still haven’t thaw?”, Negan asked, furrowing his brows slightly before the grin on his lips grew wider ,”Shoulda come here earlier, huh? I’m usually pretty damn good at heating shit up.”  
“Wow”, you laughed, feeling how some heat made its way up your body as he winked at you before a thicker chuckle rumbled through his chest.  
“See? You’re already less tense”, he said, ginning triumphantly as he raised his glass to yours,”And cheers to that!”

Talking to Negan was easier than expected. You weren’t one hundred percent sure if it was the whiskey, just some placebo effect of knowing you had something to drink that could loose you up, or simply his personality, but quicker than you thought you were getting more comfortable next to him and more able to leave that taciturn little girl behind, even though she put on a little fight.  
Your glass was already half empty as you leaned back into your chair, watching how the candle on the small table flickered light over Negan’s face as you let out a small sigh.  
“I just have to get used to all of this. People bowing for me and all that”, you mumbled, taking another sip of the whiskey that washed warmly down your throat as you watched Negan running his hand over his beard, glancing at you with raised brows.  
“What did ya expect?”, he asked, confusing for for a second before he shook his head slightly ,”No really, not being fucking sarcastic now. What did you expect?”  
“Hmm, that’s a tough one”, you mumbled, sinking a little more into the soft cushion of the chair as Negan took a good swing of his glass and let out a small chuckle.  
“Alright, making’ it a little more specific. I wanna know what you expected of my damn ass.”  
“Really?”, you asked, chuckling softly as you raised your brows and watched the smirk on his face grow wider and his eyes twinkle roguishly in the warm light of the candle while part of your mind was already searching for what to tell him.  
“Yeah, and be honest”, he said, nodding towards you with the glass in his hand,”Can already see something coursing through that pretty head, you just don’t wanna speak it out.”  
You sighed, trying to pack your thoughts onto sentences before you softly shrugged your shoulders.  
“Wasn’t sure to be honest”, you said as you glanced from your glass back to him,”How you were that night at the feast didn’t completely match some stuff I’ve heard.”  
His face tensed for a moment as he puckered his brows slightly, enough to give you the feeling that you had to explain yourself a little more.  
“It’s not that I believe those rumors, just makes it a little more complicated”, you said, fumbling on the edges of the glass as Negan’s face slackened again and gave his grin enough space to crawl back onto his lips.  
“What rumors? I mean, I know there’s a whole bunch of shit coursing ‘round about me, but y’know some are more interesting than others”, he chuckled, taking a gulp of his whiskey with a relishing groan down while you shifted in your chair, with all the rumors you’ve heard about him whirling through your head, with the majority rather intimidating and negative than anything else.  
“C’mon no need to hesistate now”, he chuckled, grinning a little wider as he glimpsed at you while you groaned quietly, just before you grasped one rumor that seemed a better beginning than a good bunch of others.  
“I do know they say you’re a womanizer”, you finally, yet a little reluctantly said, glancing at him as the smirk on his lips got a bit brighter.  
“And?”, he chuckled with raised brows, licking the liquor off his lower lip with a look on his face as if he wanted you to guess how much of this rumor was real, or how much was just hot air.  
“That’s probably one of the rumors that are true?”, you said, raising your brows a little as you glanced at him, trying to tell if you had just said the right thing before a bit of your nervousness from before flared back up again ,”I mean, I guess it wouldn’t surprise me that much.”  
Yeah, great, you’d made it worse. Negan flashed an even bigger grin, laughing lowly as he propped his elbow onto the armrest of his chair, enough to lean a little closer over to you.  
“How’s that?”, he asked, fixating you with his glance as he bit his lip, allowing the roguishness in his eyes to intensify and with that, multiply the heat that was streaming through your body, and now into your cheeks while you watched the flickering light of the candle dance over the side of his handsome face.  
That man exactly knew what he was doing there.  
“You know why”, you finally said, unable to keep yourself from mirroring his grin while you hoped that your face didn’t look all too red in the faint light, just before Negan let out another rough laugh and cut through your hopes.  
“Mhmm, think I can see it right there on your pretty damn face.”  
“Great”, you chuckled, a little embarrassment swinging through your voice as you glanced down to your glass, still catching how Negan shook his head immediately.  
“Don’t hide it, looks good on ya”, he mumbled as you took another sip of your whiskey, hoping it would somehow cool you down before you heard Negan clearing his throat as he leaned back into his chair.  
“It’s just you now though”, he said, guiding your glance finally back to him as you caught him with a more serious expression on his face that soon loosened as his eyes caught yours again,”So hell, only you get to enjoy all the damn skills that made me a damn ladies’ man.”  
“Good to know”, you said, feeling how the heat within you was taking over, especially the longer your eyes were swaying over his face, over the salt and pepper beard, the black hair and the twinkling hazel eyes that stayed focused on you.  
Quickly, you gulped down another bit of the whiskey that warmed your throat as you swallowed it, trying to keep that heat from boiling over or pushing more redness into your face as Negan’s eyes eventually let go of you as he leaned back into his chair.  
For a moment, it got quiet as he stared at his glass, biting his lip as if he was pondering before a small groan fell from his lips as his glance found its way back to you.  
“Don’t wanna kill the mood but this shit’s been bugging me”, he finally said, scratching his beard as he let out a deep sigh,”you heard what Margret said the other day, huh? Before the first dinner?”  
“Yeah”, you mumbled, watching as Negan nodded slightly and sat a little straighter up in his chair, as if he wanted to prepare himself for whatever was to come.  
“She’s just-”, he began, stopping himself to collect the right words as his eyes glanced at you,”She’s been here since I was a damn rug rat. Seen me go though all kinda shit. My folks are both gone so she kinda took over that role…she’s- just protective as shit.”  
You nodded as you watched Negan taking another big gulp of his glass, emptying it with that while you settled back into the pillows and replayed the scene the other day in your head. You could understand her, Margret. You really could. Not matter the fact that you would have liked her to sympathize with you, especially as someone so important to the man you’d marry, you’d been suspicious too in her situation. And just as you wanted to tell him that, another memory sparked up in your mind, leading you back to confirm the suspicion that had been ghosting through your head for the last days.  
“With the stuff she said…Is that why you asked me to marry you?”, you finally got yourself to ask after a few quiet moments, with the whiskey that was already running through you as a little helper to speak it out.  
”Y’know I always thought there was a bit more to it than you gave away at that feast…I mean-”, you continued, fumbling on your glass and you gulped thickly ,”I just wondered why you picked me.”  
“What? Why the fuck shouldn’t I’ve taken you?”, it nearly blustered out of him, as he looked at you with puckered brows while you shrug your shoulders and let out a sigh.  
“Because my status is close to zero. I got more untitled than nobel blood in me for sure and you’re not anyone, you’re king of a pretty big territory…plus, you weren’t married for years. I just wondered why you’d suddenly want to settle for me.”  
Negan sighed as his eyes locked with yours for a moment, before he reached for the bottle of whiskey on the table and filled his glass back up, until he leaned back again and nipped on the liquor, with puckered brows and another sigh falling from his lips.  
“Well she did tell me that a day before that feast, was a little jazzed, not gonna lie”,he finally broke the silence, running a hand over his face as his eyes jumped from his glass to your for a second,”But damn, I don’t give a fuck about your status, I just-”  
He stopped, and in that moment, the man that looked usually so strong and tough seemed a little unsteady.  
“I wouldn’t have asked anyone…just had a good feeling about you”, he added, letting a thick breath fall from his lips before slowly but surely his signature grin made it back to his lips as his glance got back stuck on you,”And I tend to have a damn sixth sense when it comes to that shit. Also, that feeling was fuckin right.”  
“Well, thank god”, you chuckled, allowing him to loose the mood again as he nodded and let out a rough laugh.  
“Yeah, damn good for me, I mean, I could’ve had some bad luck too, you could’ve been a bitch.”  
“Wow, now that’s a compliment”, you laughed, sinking a little deeper into your chair as Negan managed to get that heat back into your cheeks with just another glance.  
“Oh if you want me to charm your panties off, just tell me…I’ll gladly do it”, he lowly said, biting his lip as he motioned with his glass to you,”Easy too, ‘cause damn you’re smokin’ hot.”  
And with that, and another wolfish wink he had you speechless again, only able to give him a chuckle after you’d ripped yourself out of your surprise, while he shook his head laughing before he took another gulp and glanced wolfishly at you.  
“Now let’s get back to those fuckin’ rumors, bet there’s some more juicy weird ass gossip goin’ round!”  
There was, and even though you’d been skeptical at first, it slowly seemed to become a little game of getting to know him better, and you wouldn’t pass on that. You didn’t haul the big guns in at the beginning, first stayed with the light, even a little absurd ones before slowly touching on the harder ones, the rumors that could partly be straight out of a tale used to scare children. Negan answered to them, all of them, honest and straight up and so did rumors that depicted him as someone who cold heartedly punished those who messed with him, transformed to a man who was mostly just trying to keep his people safe. He had killed, had punished harshly, had done his deeds, he wasn’t keeping that from you, but hearing it from his mouth and hearing that in the end, it was to secure and protect his folk, you believed that he was just trying to be a good king.   
You talked and talked, almost losing your feeling of time as you sat there on the balcony, feeling more relaxed around him every minute you spent there with him, until the moment he got quiet for a little, before he suddenly stood straight up from his chair and grinned at you, with some whiskey still shimmering in the candle light on his curled up lips.  
“Grab your glass, Sweetheart. Wanna show you something.”

“So where are we going?” you asked after you had climbed the felt thousandth staircase and were walking though an rather abandoned hallway, while Negan stayed by your side, with his glass and the bottle of whiskey in his hands as you made your way further into the unknown.  
“Curious, huh?”, he chuckled as he lead you around yet another corner, just before he nodded towards a spiral staircase just a couple meters away from your current spot,”Just have to go up the stairs here, gonna visit my favorite damn place is in this whole fucking castle.”  
Determined, Negan strutted towards it, already with a content smile on his lips that mixed into his usual grin before an odd, yet familiar feeling made itself home in your body.  
“Negan, wait”, it slipped out of your lips shortly before you reached the stone stairs that lead Negan to turn around and give you a confused look.  
“Hmm?”  
“You sure about this?”, you asked, nodding towards the stairs as you let out a little sigh,”I had those places too and I…It’s hard letting someone in on that…I just don’t want you to regret it when the whiskey’s out of your system again.”  
“C’mon, you’re gonna be my wife. Sooner or later you’re gonna see this place either way”, he brushed it quicker off than you thought, shrugging his shoulder before he stepped up the first few steps ,”Plus, that shit’s another thing Margret been kicking my ass about. Gotta “Open up” more. That’s some bullshit, but hell, if I’ll do it, better do it with my damn new Queen.”  
“Alright”, you eventually nodded, before you followed him as he made his way upstairs. Step by step, you could feel more of a soft breeze bushing along your skin, pairing with the pleasant scent of the fresh night air until you reached the last steps and could gaze up into the dark sky and the stars that speckled the firmament.  
“This here has the best view of the whole castle. Can’t get it better”, Negan said, giving you a content smile as you finally reached the top after him and glanced around your surroundings. It was the top of one of the highest towers, one that wasn’t topped off with a steeple roof. It was seamed with smaller walls, probably originally build for soldiers to hide behind from burning arrows during attacks but now, shortly before the tooth shaped parapet that surrounded the tower, a stone bench was build into the lower wall, cushioned with some slightly worn off pillows that must be laying there for quiet some time. The tower itself was right at the edge of the castle, giving it a clear view on the whole terrain around the building, you couldn’t even see from most rooms inside and especially not from the courtyard. Endless looking woods, a large lake whose end seemed to melt into the horizon and in which’s dark water the moon reflected itself.  
“It’s so beautiful”, it slipped out of your lips as you watched the softly swinging trees and the little waves of the lake while Negan nodded as his eyes swayed over them as well.  
“Hell yeah it is”, he said, glancing over at you before he walked towards the bench, leading you with him until he propped himself on one of the parapet’s teeth, the whiskey beside him as he stared into the open.  
Taking a gulp of the liquor out of his glass, he shifted from foot to foot, before he ran a hand over his face and cleared his throat.  
“Uhm, didn’t say all on the balcony”, he finally mumbled, glancing first into his glass before swaying his eyes briefly to you as you moved next to him, enough to see the faint light of the moon enlightening his face as he breathed deeply out.  
“I’m not fuckin’ good at talkin’ about that drippy, swarmy feelings stuff but shit..I made my fair share of mistakes in the damn past and if you say so, this here’s my second chance at making things right. Wanna start off without any-fucking-thing in the way”, he spoke out, obviously struggling a little as his hand ran through his already slightly ruffled dark hair  
“Margret told me that shit not just outta the blue”, he breathed out, staring down to the forest,”Finally went through some stuff that belonged to my late…well, to my late wife…after seven fucking years. Could never get myself to do it till then and, well it just ripped some shit back up.”  
With that, he took a big swing of his whiskey, biting his lip as the warm liquid traveled down his throat while your eyes were glued to him, half surprised that he was already pushing himself so far to open up to you, regardless of the whiskey’s obvious help, the other half in gladness that he was being truthful with you.  
“Just finally had to put that crap and her fuckin’ death behind me”, he mumbled and breathed sharply in,”I have…still, Margret saw the fucking hard way there, think she just wanted me to start off fresh.”  
He glanced at you from his glass, letting out a chuckle as if he was trying to loose himself back up,“Hope I haven’t fuckin’ scared you off now.”  
“No, its okay”, you said, shaking your head as Negan grabbed the bottle and lead you with a rather relieved look on his face to the bench.  
”Know how that feels…losing someone”, you added reluctantly as you let yourself fall next to him onto the pillows, fumbling on your dress as the familiar mix of sharp and dull pain made its way into your body as the faces of your mother and sister flashed over your inner eye, shaking something in you as you shifted uncomfortable over the cushion. You were staring at the liquid in your glass, still, you cold see Negan’s eyes on you as you were fighting with yourself, even though his little confession was encouraging you to open up a little as well.  
“I miss them everyday…everything changed so fast after the accident happened and I…I couldn’t even talk to someone about it till…well till now”, you gulped, trying to shut down the memories of yourself, curled up on your bed in your old home, crying yourself to sleep every night after their death while the biting feeling of loneliness had almost eaten you up.  
“My family’s always been kind of a mess…with my father leaving my mom and the castle behind and all that stuff, so it just-”, you stumbled over your own words, clearly struggling even though there was something in you that repeated Negan’s words from before. Starting off without anything in the way. You couldn’t tell him your whole life story now, of course not, but there were some things you had to move out of the way as well, especially since you wanted this with Negan to work out, you didn’t want to mess it up.  
“Negan?”, you asked, looking up from your glass to meet his eyes.  
“Yeah?”  
“You’ve been honest to me so I just wanna be that too now”, you said, still fumbling on your dress as his eyes wandered over your face,”I wouldn’t say I’m exactly good at opening up too…I just…I tend to close up sometimes when someone gets suddenly close to me and…if that happens, just want you to know it’s not because of you…it’s just me having that dumb spleen.”  
“All good”, he replied quicker than expected, pushing the grin back on his face as he reached for your hand to give it a small squeeze,”Plus, think we two are doing pretty good now, huh?”  
“Yeah, thanks to the whiskey”, you laughed, feeling a little burden lift from your shoulders that combined with the warm feeling as Negan’s large hand remained wrapped around yours while the other raised his glass.  
“And cheers to that! Let’s get back to the fun stuff, wanna see more of that smile there”, he chuckled nodding to the small smile that had settled onto your lips as his warm hand grasped yours a little tighter, enough to give you more of that fuzzy feeling in your stomach while your glasses clinked against one another, announcing the start of the rest of your night.

You stayed up on the tower up until the deep night, talking and finding more and more to each other. It was easy with him, to just let go and laugh your heart out, and you knew that the whiskey was by far not the only reason you were able to relax in his presence.  
Hours must have passed when you made your way downstairs and finally moved down the last staircase that lead to your room, while his hand had moved from yours to your waist as one of his arms was loosely slung around you, the other carrying the bottle and the glasses while a deep laugh rumbled through his chest and almost shook them out of his grasp.  
“Shit, we’re gonna wake the whole castle up”, you chuckled as you glanced up at Negan, whose laugh was still echoing through the empty hallways.  
“Pff then so be it. Already at your room either way so they get to plunge back in their fucking beds in just a bit”, he said, shrugging his shoulders as he stopped before the heavy door, motioning towards it as he readjusted the bottle in his arms and eventually let go of you.  
You nodded as Negan reached for the handle, opening the door just enough for you two to slip inside and let him place the whiskey and the glasses back on the small table in the corner of the room  
“Damn, that was great. We should do this every night from now on. I mean, we can do it straight up after the dinner. Just stay here or go back up”, he said as he turned back around and walked towards you, close enough to loosely wrap his arms around your waist and let a warm shiver travel up your spine.  
“Yeah, sounds great”, you mumbled back with a smile on your lips that got mirrored on his as you let him pull you a little closer, until your bodies just followed each others movements and melted almost automatically into a hug.  
You settled against his warm chest, his arms wrapped around you while your head nuzzled against the curve of his neck, with the combination of his touches letting your heart flutter.  
“Goodnight, Sweetheart”, he mumbled into your hair as he held you a little closer, humming deeply as you hugged him back, feeling his back rising and falling beneath your fingertips as you breathed contently out.  
“Goodnight”, you mumbled as you slowly and almost reluctantly moved out of his arms, catching his smirk as his arms dropped from your arms before he took a few steps towards the door, already letting you wish that the night was a little longer.  
“Oh and have some dirty dreams”, he chuckled as he turned with a wolfish grin around to you, already pushing the door open while he sneaked his tongue over his lower lip,”’course with me in the main role.”  
“Sure”, you laughed as you plopped down on your bed, watching as he remained in the doorframe a little longer before he gave you a small nod, the grin still on his lips before he finally stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind himself.  
From this moment on, the scene around you was the very same before he had first stepped into the room, the ruffled sheets on the bed, the darkness outside and the candlelight that was dancing over the high walls, but something had changed.  
For the first time in months, you didn’t feel alone anymore.

Days passed, one by one and they stayed just as busy as the ones before, if not more. Appointment followed appointment, either for the wedding dress, the decorations, the meal for the big day and countless other little points that begged for attention or duties Negan had to follow as a king that didn’t simply vanish just because he was planning a wedding. So with the days as packed as they were, the evenings and nights stayed the only times reserved for some time alone with Negan, far from the turmoil around the upcoming feast. But you used them, each and every night he stood in front of your door to slip in or take you to the top of the castle, and you got to know each other better with every hour you spend alone. The occasional whiskey let you loose a little up, encouraged you to give yourself a push whenever you grew a little cautious or unsure of how to approach certain topics until you didn’t need this little helper anymore.  
You grew comfortable around him, faster than you were usually doing it around other people. And it wasn’t only because you knew that you would spend the rest of your days with him, he just had this kind of charism that made it easier for you to let go. He made you laugh with his odd sense of humor, charmed you more than you liked to admit and you had that smile on your face you couldn’t get rid off as soon as he was stepping in front of you.  
You still had some of your walls up, of course, they weren’t breaking down just like that, even if it seemed easier for Negan to attempt climbs on them than it had been for others. There were still times you felt yourself closing up, raising your walls a little higher out of seemingly nowhere just because your old ways were still burned into your brain, but for the first time, you had the feeling that it was just a matter of time until you could defeat this part of you too.  
And maybe, what you were doing right now was helping doing so at least a tiny bit. You were glancing into the mirror in front of you, shifting softly from side to side as you captured the luxurious fabric that was caressing around your body since the moment of your forelast fitting for the wedding dress had begun.  
The times before, they had just measured you out, held samples of fabrics to your body to see which would look good on you and give you the possibility to tell them which ones you liked the best, but today, days after the last measurement, the dress was finally caressing around your figure.  
They must have worked all day and night to present the nearly finished result, with only a few final needles sticking into its fabric to make sure it would sit perfectly on the big day.  
And they had made an outstanding job of it, truly. It was beautiful.  
Thin straps slung over your shoulders, connecting to a tight corsage that was adorned with fine, detailed lace and tiny white gemstones that curled over the fabric, forming precise and elegant patterns until the corsage stopped at your waist and soft, loose fabric expanded into a skirt that fell down your legs. It wasn’t as imposing and huge as you had seen it at other royal weddings, rather light and flowing, yet impressive and lavish.  
You couldn’t peel your eyes from it, felt like every time you looked at the dress you caught a new little detail on it while the tailors scurried around you until they suddenly stood still as a heavy knock sounded through the door.  
“Your King’s here. You’re ready for me to come in?”, Negan’s voice echoed through the heavy wood, right as Joan, the head tailor, rushed from your side over to the door before Negan could even attempt to open it.  
“I’m very sorry my king but it’s a golden rule, the groom cannot see the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony”, the small woman said, stroking her hair a little nervously back as her eyes scanned over the dark wood.  
”Hmm alright. Well, then tell take her to meet me in the small ballroom as soon as you’re done here, the one in the west wing.”  
”I will”, Joan responded to the deep voice, nodding even though Negan on the other side couldn’t see it.  
“Good. Thanks, Joan.”  
“Anytime my King”, she quickly replied, just before heavy footsteps echoed from the hallway through to you, descending until they were gone completely and she eventually peeled herself away from the door.  
“Back to work”, she said, nodding towards the others with a sympathetic smile who immediately began to work back on you before she glanced up at you, a little questioning, as if she wanted to ask with that look if you had caught all of the conversation.  
“I heard”, you nodded before she could say anything, giving her the smile back as she already hurried back over to your side, back to the part of your dress’s skirt she’d been working on.  
Step by step the tailors adjusted the dress a little more to your figure, letting you stare in wonderment at its reflection in the mirror until the men and women were done for the day with their work on you, and instead relinquished you to Joan to get you to the small ballroom and lead you through the narrow and twined hallways of the west wing.

An hour later, the small ballroom was filled with the soft music of two fiddles that streamed through the air, mixing with the sound of your footsteps as you moved over the dark, wooden panels on the ground. Negan’s curses mixed here and there into the music, cursing over the steps of the dance while the dancing teacher at the side of the room clapped in his hands to the cadence of the music, correcting your posture and moves at first after every felt second, then slowly less and less.  
“One, two, three. One, two, three. There you go”, Richard said, clapping in his hands once more, “With an hour more tomorrow and the day before the wedding, you will be just fine. It’s an easy step.”  
“Yeah, but it would sure help if I knew how big that damn dress is”, Negan chuckled, giving you a small wink as you swayed from side to side, his hand secure on your waist, the other grasping yours tightly.  
”Well, you can’t see it yet”, you mumbled with a small laugh back, glancing up at him as you tried to keep track of the steps of the dance.  
“Dumb ass tradition if you ask me”, he mumbled back, letting out a theatrical huff, still with the grin dancing on his lips.  
”Well, at least it’s still has the surprise effect”, you said, watching as Negan’s eyes scanned over your face while he slowly nodded.  
“Mhmm….Know either way that you’ll look fuckin’ awesome”, he chuckled lowly, letting some heat rise up to your cheeks as you shook your head with a small laugh.  
“Thank you”, you mumbled, watching as the grin on his lips grew wider, “By the way, I don’t know what you’ll wear too, so it’s only fair.”  
He shrugged his shoulders, letting out a thick laugh, “Now we could change that if it was up to me. I don’t care, you can see me with those wedding garnments or bare ass naked. Well, preferably the later.”  
“Wow”, you laughed, shoving his shoulder before laying your hand back to its the spot Richard had put it earlier, all while Negan laughed even louder.  
“Well, I think we are done for today”, Richards voice echoed past the music that hushed in the next moment, guiding your attention towards him for a second, to the slightly crooked smile that let you know that he didn’t think you two would actually be able to concentrate any more today.  
“Wait, keep playing. That was only the first part of the dance”, Negan intervened, nodding towards the two men who started to play their soft music again.  
“There’s a second?”, you asked, raising your eyebrows as Negan bit his lip roguishly.  
“Officially not, but it’s my version”, he chuckled, grinning down at you,“Can’t break the tradition with the dress so I can at least bend the shit around the dance a little. Just makin’ it more interesting”  
“Aha”, you laughed, receiving an even wider grin.  
“My King, Miss (Y/N), I will see you tomorrow”, you only heard Richard’s voice say before Negan glanced briefly over at him, “May I be dismissed?”  
“Yes, sure. See you tomorrow, Richard”, Negan said, giving him a nod before Richard nodded quickly back and bowed before leaving the room and letting the door fall into its lock with a small thud.  
“Okay, here we go”, Negan chuckled as soon as his eyes were back on you. Slowly, he pulled you closer, his arm wrapping tighter around your waist until your bodies touched one another.  
“Just lean against me”, he said, a trustful smile mixing into his grin as you gave him a small nod and let yourself follow his plea. So gradually, you leaned against his broad chest, feeling how he tightened his embrace around you until the moment you could lean your head against his shoulder and feel his warmth and scent beginning to engulf you.  
”Yeah, just like that”, you heard him say, the deepness of his voice vibrating even rougher through to you now that you were so close to him, sending a small, pleasant shudder through your body that took you more and more in.  
“Oh I see what you’re doing”, you joked as soon as Negan’s hand grasped yours tighter and the arm around your waist kept you flush against his body, intensifying the heat within you many times over. So much that you could bet you were blushing again and you were a little thankful that your face was buried in his shoulder at this moment.  
“Good”, he mumbled into your hair as he began to slowly sway with you from side to side in the rhythm to the music,“I might not be a damn pro when it comes to Richard’s steps but this is something I’m fucking good at.”  
He was. You had to give that to him.  
Your feet were just doing tiny steps from side to side or were simply there to keep your body balanced when you put your weight on either foot as you swayed, while the rest of your bodies were melted against one another, intimate and comforting. Your nose was nuzzled into the warmth of his neck, your cheek pressed against the soft fabric of his cloak while the first nervousness ebbed away and got replaced by a pleasant warmth. Your muscles were slackened as your body leaned against his, relaxed by his touch, warmth and scent to the point that it almost confused you how much comfort it gave you.  
For a moment, the confusion ghosted through your head before you pushed it out, urging yourself to just let it be and let you enjoy whatever was happening right there. Negan’s shifted a little, enough to lean his head against yours while his deep voice hummed along the melody of the song while his chest slowly rose and fell against your body.  
You began to forget the playing men at the side of the room, only focusing on Negan and the effect he had on you while you slowly felt a bubble forming around you, where it was just you two and no one else. You slowly lost your feeling of time, enjoying the comfort of the moment and the way it absorbed the stress of the day, before you had to start out to the next appointments.

Five Days until the wedding. Four days. Three days.  
Wind was letting the windows rattle as rain banged against it, drop by drop while the storm was letting the crowns of the trees violently shake. Your footsteps echoed through the empty hallways that were enlightened by the torches and lightning bolts that crawled from time to time over the sky, while you made your way further towards the fireplace room. Your regular habit of sitting outside in the evenings and mild nights with Negan was crossed out by the storm outside and so instead, Walter had told you to come to the fireplace until Negan would arrive back from his duties outside.  
You were worried about him, you couldn’t deny that. He’d been antsy all day before going out, talking about his growing distrust to one of the commanders of the groups responsibly for keeping the surroundings of the castle and the people living there intact and safe from any threats. And now with the storm on top of it, one you had watched breaking trees like toothpicks, the check-up must have turned into something way more serious, and dangerous.  
Fumbling nervously on the fabric of your dress, you gulped thickly, telling yourself that Negan was all fine, while the booms of the thunder got louder and louder with every minute, intensified by the higher becoming walls of the castle as you approached the large entrance hall. A booming, raging but familiar voice mixed into the echos, letting you startle up for a mere second before you continued your way, though not sure what you walk into as soon as you’d pass by the hall.  
“You left him in fuckin’ charge after that crap! Listen Simon, I’m one tiny ass shit away from getting ya out of your position. You’re only where you are now, ‘cause there was no other fuckin’ option, be fucking aware of that. But believe me, one more thing and I’ll personally kick your ass into hell”, Negan’s angered voice echoed through to you, letting your steps slow down for a moment as you heard it booming through the walls again, “Robert got what he deserved, if that falling tree wouldn’t have bashed his brains I’d done that. Risking lives like that-”  
Then it got quiet for a moment as you kept walking, yet unsure if you should stop just as you heard Negan’s voice again, now dangerously calm.  
“You still know who’s in charge, Simon? Right?”  
“You of course, my King. I won’t disappoint you again”, the other man responded, just as you halted at the last corner that parted you from the two men in the hall, waiting a second to hear what came next to not stumble into something you didn’t want to be part of.  
“Good”, you only heard Negan say, his deep voice a little less tense, giving you along with a small push of yourself the go to finally step into the hall.  
Your eyes directly darted at Negan who stood in the middle of the room, wearing a mix of armor and garments that were soaked by the rain and let a small pool form around his boots. Then, at the kneeling, dark haired man in front of him whose eyes slowly drifted up at you as soon as your footsteps echoed through the air.  
“Hey, Sweetheart”, Negan shot your attention back to him as his eyes lightened up, watching you step in as he ran a hand through his wet hair, that wasn’t gelled back anymore but instead tousled and a little messy as it kept falling into his face. He gave you a mix of a grin and a genuine smile as you stepped closer, watching how Negan reached his arm out to you.  
“Simon, meet my fiancée”, he said, his voice only daubed with a mere split of the tension from before as the mustached man bobbed himself up and bowed quickly before you as you said your name, still not completely sure how to behave in situations like these.  
“Honor to meet you”, he mumbled, straightening his posture again as Negan gave him a nod, allowing him to leave while Negan shot you a grin as soon as Simon had vanished into one of the hallways.  
“Well, then let’s finally get to the good damn part of the day!”

“You heard it, huh?”, Negan asked as you found yourself walking through the hallways again, now side by side with him.  
“On my way, yeah”, you said as Negan glanced at you, nodding slowly as his eyes wandered over your face, as if he wanted to read something off it.  
“You aren’t scared of me, right?”  
“What?”, it blustered out, yet quiet and rather befuddled as you gave him a confused look.  
“You aren’t scared of me, are you? I know I told you ‘bout those things I did- do….so fuckers like him should be pissing their pants, but not you”, his face was tense as he gulped thickly, his eyes wandering over you with a concerned glance as you shook your head.  
“No, no I’m not”, you said, watching how the tense look stayed for a moment on his face, as if he wasn’t completely buying it yet.  
“Really, Negan. I’m all fine”, you insisted, now with a smile on your face to support your words while he slowly began to nod.  
“Would have some other punishments for you in mind anyway”, he mumbled, grinning at you with a quick wink as you let out a chuckle and nudged him playfully into his side just before he stopped in front of a heavy wooden door.  
“Finally”, he breathed out, opening the door and allowing you to slip into the warm room, catching Walter at the fireplace, poking into the wood to adjust the flames.  
“Oh, my King. As requested, the fireplace is enflamed, fresh clothes for the night are on the table to your left and beverages are right here by the couch”, he said, while your glance drifted off him and instead explored the room.  
Dark wooden shelves reached up until they met the ceiling, packed with ancient books and scrolls, enlightened by the rustic chandelier that was dangling in the room. Dark wood floor matched the shelves, though a lot of it was covered in thick carpets that elicited with the candle light a comfortable atmosphere in the whole room that got intensified by the crackling fire. Negan lead you towards the big couch by the fireplace as he already began to unlace the first strips of his soaked garnments.  
“Was that the guy you were talking about this morning? Simon?”, you asked as you let yourself fall onto the deep red couch, feeling it sinking a little beneath you weight as you shuffled onto it and stroked your shoes off your feet.  
“No, the guy was the one that got squashed underneath a damn tree tonight”, Negan said as he walked towards the fresh pile of clothes on the table in the edge, shaking his head before he cleared his throat,”Simon, well Simon has had the cheek to do some shit before too but that was a long time ago, before that damn throne was even mine. Thought he’d grown out of it but…I’m not sure of it anymore. Gonna have to see what I’m gonna do with him.”  
You nodded as you leaned back in the cushion and pillows, feeling the warmth of the fire spreading over your skin while Negan peeled the thin armor off his chest, unlacing it’s cords until he let it hit the floor with an exhausted groan.  
“Gonna tell you everything, promise. Just wanna get my head off that shit for today…that okay?”, he asked, giving you a tired yet genuine smile as he began to fumble on the laces of his soaked shirt.  
“Yeah, sure”, you said, giving him a smile back as he pulled the wet fabric off his skin, revealing his firm chest underneath that was peppered with dark, short hair that eventually wandered in a smaller trail down his stomach. For a second you couldn’t take your eyes off him, right before you felt the heat shooting from your body up into your cheeks as soon as you caught yourself staring, shooting your glance back into the twisting flames.  
“You can look. Got nothin’ to hide from you”, you heard Negan chuckle throatily that only made this heat within you rise a little more,”Not like you’re trying to hide that blush though. I’ve seen it.”  
You groaned with a small chuckle, trying to play it a little of as his remark only intensified the burning blush that enlightened your cheeks.  
“Like what you see, huh?”, he added as you caught him from the corners of your eyes walking a little towards you, enough for you to sway your glance back at him. He had some loose black cloth pants on by now l, even though he still hadn’t pulled a shirt over and by the wide grin that was dancing over his lips you could tell why.  
“Can you just come over here now?”, you laughed, watching as he brushed a towel over his torso to get rid of the last dampness.  
“Don’t distract”, he chuckled roguishly, now finally pulling his shirt over as he strolled towards you. Part of you was a little thankful for it, considering the bright red of your cheeks and the heat that seemed to multiply with each second, the other couldn’t deny that you could honestly stare at him all day and wished for him to strip the shirt right back off.  
Negan cocked his brow up, as if he was repeating his question with this motion as you let out a small, playful scoff and slowly nodded.  
“I do”, you said, your lips immediately and involuntarily mirroring the grin on Negan’s lips as he dropped down next to you ,”A lot. There you go.”  
“Knew it”, he lowly said, nodding slowly as his eyes fixed on yours, not letting go of them and rising the tingling in your stomach even more as he sneaked his tongue over his lower lip.  
You were unable to tear your eyes from him, until the moment a sudden knock echoed through the heavy wood door inside, and made your glance skip from Negan’s face to the other side of the room, before a male voice sounded through to you.  
“I have the order, may I come in?”  
“Yeah, come in”, Negan called out loud enough for the man behind the door to hear it, who walked just seconds later with two plates in his hands into the room.  
“What’s this?”, you asked, glancing at the man, trying to figure out what he was holding there as he got closer.  
“One of the few damn wedding traditions I actually fucking like”, Negan chuckled as he gave you a big grin before the man let down the plates onto the small side table beside the couch and revealed what they were carrying.  
“The cake”, Negan grumbled, his eyes darting from you to layers of the dark, rich cake that were separated by a light cream and a couple fruits ,”Been the same recipe for fuck knows how long, but it’s damn great.”  
His eyes were gleaming in an almost childlike joy as he glanced back at you, and you couldn’t keep his excitement from sparking over to you as the delicious looking cake made your stomach stir in anticipation, regardless of the dinner you’ve had before.  
“Could get the baker to do it for birthdays and other shit too…can’t have it reserved only for weddings”, Negan mumbled, catching your attention for a moment as he reached towards the plates, placing one on his lap before handing the other one to you.  
Both of you were quick to push your forks into the cake and get a big scoop, before you pushed it into your mouth and let out a small, satisfied groan as soon as the delicious taste spread through your mouth.  
The dark chocolate quickly combined with the taste of the cream that was light and flowery, yet rich, so delicious that you couldn’t even describe what the exact components were.  
“Good, huh?”, Negan laughed, gulping down a big piece and brushing some crumbs off his beard.  
“Awesome”, you mumbled, licking the luscious cream off the corner of your lips while a triumphal grin spread over Negan’s face.  
“Knew you’d like it!”

As soon as the last scoop of cake had vanished in your mouth you already wished for another piece while Negan leaned humming back, placing both of your empty plates back on the small table as he groaned contently.  
“Shit that was good”, he chuckled, running his palm over his beard as you nodded in agreement, falling back into the pillows as you tasted the last bit of cake on your lips before it was gone completely. Your eyes swayed to the empty plates with pity, before moving back to Negan whose wide grin had now much more of a sleepy smile.  
“Come here”, he mumbled, raising his arm onto the backrest to give you space beside him while the pleasant warmth within you just grew a little more. And it multiplied as soon as you were huddled against him, your head resting on his chest, your cheek smoothed against the fabric of his shirt and your arm wrapped around his torso to hug him back as soon as his arms had enclosed you.  
“Wait, can get us even comfier”, he chuckled, reaching out to your leg to hook it carefully over his hip, brining you closer to him than you’d ever been before. Sure, when you’d sat outside, you had laid leaned against his side, with one arm of his loosely slung around you, but it hadn’t been as much as now. Not that you complained, rather the opposite. It felt great, even better than it had during the dance and every cell in your body seemed drawn to get more of it.  
“And the last step”, Negan mumbled as he finally pulled a thick blanket over both of your bodies, making sure you were tucked in before he let out a deep, satisfied hum.Breathing contently out, you glanced at the flickering flames and took in the pleasant mix of Negan’s scent and the glimmering wood, while his fingertips began to trace up and down your arm in small patterns, eliciting the small smile that was already painted on your face to grow bigger.  
“Isn’t that much of a bad switch for outside, huh?”, he chuckled, stopping his movements for a second as you slowly nodded.  
“Yeah, a pretty great one actually.”  
“Mhmm…as long as the fucker upstairs doesn’t decide to give earth a piss on the big day, it’s all good”, he throatily laughed as his fingers continued their soft movements that made your heart flutter a little more.  
“Oh yeah”, you chuckled back, watching Negan’s fingertips forming circles over your skin that slowly got a little lazier by time. Negan yawned thickly as he kept you enclosed in his warm embrace while the room got filled with a comfortable silence that was only broken by the crackling wood, the rain that drummed softly against the large windows and the small, pleased growls that rumbled here and there through Negan’s chest.  
You felt so cozy and comfortable there with him, so relaxed that you felt yourself lowering your walls a bit more without worrying and in some way, it was one of the most freeing feelings you knew. Humming you closed your eyes, feeling the warmth of the fire dancing gently over your face while Negan’s slowly rising and falling chest dandled you into a sleepy state. You didn’t fight it, instead you let it work on you, take the brushes of his fingertips in, his warm breath on your skin and simply his closeness. You got lulled more and more into his scent and his warmth, feeling how sleep slowly wrapped itself around you until it finally pulled you into its depths.

The movements of strong arms around you slowly grasped you out of your sleep as you felt your body slowly settling into something soft underneath you while your eyes began to slowly flutter open. First you only caught the familiar wooden pillars of your four-poster bed, felt the soft cushions and the pillows beneath you, before your eyes caught Negan’s face close before you, close enough to let you feel him warm breath on your skin.  
“Shit…got you sleepin’ like a baby through the whole hallway and wake you up right here”, you heard him mumble, his hazel eyes lightening only slightly up in the faint light as they wandered over your face, his arms still holding you as he let you sink deeper into the mattress.  
“Mhm it’s okay”, you muttered back, still swinging somewhere between being awake and falling asleep again. A drowsy smile curled the corners of your lips up as you felt his warmth around you, goosebumps spreading over your skin as you felt his hot breath brushing over it while he remained close for a moment.  
“Sleep tight, Sweetheart”, his deep voice rumbled, right before the sleepy smile grew a little bit brighter as he leaned in and pressed his lips to your forehead. They were warm, a bit softer than you had expected them to be and enough to set a contrast to the slight chaffing of his rough beard that tickled your skin.  
You couldn’t keep a small hum from falling from your lips as he hesitated to let go just yet, until the moment you could feel him slowly backing away with a small grin painted on his face.  
“You too”, you mumbled, your lids already growing threateningly heavy again as they wandered from Negan to the sheets beside you for a second while you reached out for them and slowly dragged them over your body.  
“I sure will”, Negan’s voice rumbled through to you as his hand reached out to help you with the last bit until the soft sheets were fully hugging your body and you cuddled deeper into the pillows.  
Once more, you caught the roguish yet affectionate grin on his lips as he ultimately backed away from the bed and walked over to the heavy wooden door, giving you one last glance as he reached towards the handle.  
You gave him a sleepy smile back, your lids now growing so heavy that you were barely catching his figure by the door anymore, just enough to watch him finally walking out and closing it behind him with a small thud, the last thing you heard before the sleep pulled you completely into its embrace.

Time flew from this night on, the second to last day and the last one were packed full with appointments to get the last bit for the wedding ready, and it was only the evening Negan had made sure would be swiped free off any duties so either of you could calm down a little. The clock had striked eight by now, your last try on of the wedding dress was over since a half hour and right now, you were sitting on the edge of your bed, watching how billows of steam streamed out of the open bathroom door.  
The maid inside was hushing from from side to side, preparing your bath and the treatments for your hair and face before the big day while you shifted over your bed, already wrapped up in your bathrobe as you heard a soft knock on the door.  
No voice followed, instead the door just slowly opened, revealing Margret behind it just as she slipped inside and let her eyes brush over you.  
“Good evening”, she said, giving you a nod while her lips curled softly up into a smile that actually seemed genuine while there was a look in her eyes that didn’t look distrustful as you had often seen it before, rather kind and soft.  
“Elizabeth, you are dismissed for today, I’ll proceed with the treatment”, she called out to the maid just as you had mumbled a “Hello” back, watching as Elizabeth was hurrying out of the bathroom, nodding towards Margret before she dropped in courtesy to you.  
“Goodnight, Miss”  
“Goodnight”, you said back, giving her a small smile before she walked out of the room and left you alone with Margret, who had just disappeared in the steam that was still coming out of the bathroom  
You were only seeing the silhouette of her small, sturdy figure walking around the tub, as you first had the possibility to ask yourself why she had taken over instead of letting Elizabeth go through with it. In all your busyness you had barely seen her durning the past week, still, you could remember the wary looks she had given you here and there, not to even speak of what you knew she had thought of you in the very beginning. Your first guess would have been that she was here to get some time alone with you, figure you out before the very last night before the wedding, but this didn’t fit at all to her warm tone and the kind glance in her eyes from just now.  
“The water is ready for you, you can already get in. I will only get some more towels”, Margret’s voice ripped you out of your thoughts, guiding your glance back to her as she was already on her way out again and left you there on your bed, asking yourself what the hell you would have to expect from whatever would come next.  
Regardless, you eventually made your way to the bathroom, sinking into the steam that had lessened a little bit before you carefully dropped the bathrobe from your body and let it fall over the nearest chair before you shifted towards the full bathtub in the middle of the room.  
Slowly, you stepped inside, watching your legs sink into the bubbles that parted for you, more and more until your body was engulfed by the hot water. Letting out a soft groan you sunk deeper, finally stretching your exhausted limbs after the busy day while Margrets footsteps echoed through the air, mixing with the thud of the door as it closed.  
“Well, then we should get started”, she said, the sound of her voice as kind as before while you caught her from the corners of your eyes stepping closer until she reached out to the small table beside the tub and took a pot of steaming water into her hands.  
“Okay”, you mumbled, closing your eyes as you felt her loosening the tie in your hair until it dropped onto your shoulders, before she slowly poured the warm water over your head. Despite the relaxing bath, you were still a little tense, unsure what you should expect from Margret, still uncertain why she had taken the maiden’s place.  
“The mixture for your hair is a century old recipe, we’ve been using it for the royal women before all big events. It’s made of lavender, roses-“, she said, stopping just as you hear her lift one of the little pots before she sighed deeply.  
“I’m sorry”, she finally breathed out, keeping you in confusion for a little longer before she rose her voice again as soon as her fingers began to massage the flowery mask into your hair,”I was a little rough on you in the beginning…wasn’t fair, no matter the fact that I was dead wrong…I was just concerned about him.”  
A whole burden seemed to fall from your shoulders as soon as you heard those words slipping out of her lips, first not believing that she had actually said them before you slowly felt them relieving you from your concern about her feelings about you.  
“It’s all good. He told me what you’ve been through with him…I would’ve been suspicious too”, you said with a small smile, opening your eyes for a moment to glance at her as she moved to the side to massage the mask into the hair on your head’s side while you could feel your body relaxing more and more.  
“Y’know, you must have struck a nerve in him, Darling”, she mumbled as she mirrored your smile, running her fingertips along your hairline while you rose your brows, a little surprised.  
“Now I haven’t seen him this way with a woman since…you know”, she said, shrugging her shoulders slightly before she let out a small sigh.  
“Took care of her for over a half year…after that, when she was gone he just, he nearly wasted away. Got his act back together but I never thought I’d see him like that again”, She said, widening her smile a little at the last part of her sentence while you took all of them in, hurting a little at the imagination of how broken Negan must have been before Margret distracted you as soon as her voice sounded through the room again.  
“There’s a new spark in him”, she mumbled as she grabbed another can of steaming water and began to slowly pour it over your head,”I feel like you’re good for him.”  
She moved the water over your head, running her fingers through your hair to remove the mask whose pleasant scent still surrounded you while you felt lighter and more relieved with every moment and every bit you heard of what Margret had to say.  
“And I think he’s gonna be good for you too. I’m sure he’s told you already…he’s made his mistakes…he has some rough edges but he’s got a good heart too. He worked on himself, he’ll be a good husband.”  
You nodded, smiling back at her as she removed the last bit of creme out of your hair, while a small part of you still felt like you were caught up in a illusion, too good to be true, until Marget’s voice brought you back into reality.  
“Hair’s ready, now let’s get this mask on your skin and you’re all ready for the wedding!”

Wrapped up in your bathrobe you found yourself sitting a little later back on your bed while Margret collected the last pots from the little table beside the tub, while the pleasant scent of the bath and even the one of the mask she had brushed over your face earlier was still swaying through the room. It was dark outside by now, only the candles in your room still enlightening it in a warm color as a heavy knock sounded through your door.  
“Sweetheart, can I come in?”, Negan’s deep voice sounded through to you, combining with your voice only seconds later as you stood up from your spot on the bed.  
“Yeah.”  
“You’re all ready?”, Negan said as he slowly opened the door, widening his eyes a little in surprise as he first caught Margret walking towards him before she already slipped out of the room, steading the pots she carried in her arms.  
“She is”, she said while Negan glanced at you, almost questioning while you gave him a smile as you nodded, as if you were telling him that everything was fine now between you and her with this motion.  
“Oh, and I know you don’t like it Negan, but groom and bride don’t spend the last night before the wedding with each other…it’s bad luck”, Margret guided your glance back to you as she tried to steady the things in her arms a little more while she nodded at Negan.  
“C’mon every-fucking-things bad luck in these dumb ass traditions”, Negan groaned loudly, receiving a warning look from Margret as she stroke one of her frizzy locks back into her braid,“Don’t do that fucking face.”  
“I’m doing whatever face I want, my dear King”, she laughed, allowing the small laughter lines at her eyes to wrinkle before she nodded towards him,”Besides, Ron told me you still have to try on your wedding garnments one last time, the top didn’t fit just right. Think you’ve been sneaking some more desserts, ain’t ya?”  
“Holy crap, Marge, could you-“  
“Sleep well you two”, she cut Negan with a chuckle off just as he raised his arms in protest, before she gave you a nod and eventually turned around to make her way down the hallway.  
“Well shit”, Negan grumbled as he stepped completely into your room, closing the door behind him as he walked towards you, “You know I could still come here after the try on.”  
For a moment you paused, glancing at him as you scratched your jaw and let out a small sigh, immediately receiving a confused look from Negan.  
“What”, he asked, rising his brows as a deep chuckle left his lips ,”You believe in that crap?”  
“No usually not…but I don’t need to risk it”, you mumbled, shifting from foot to foot as Negan eyed you, before he walked closer as a small laugh rumbled through his chest.  
“Alright”, he said, running his hand over his beard before his expression got a little tense as he glanced at you,”Then I’ll see you at the altar, huh?”  
“Yeah”, you mumbled back, your heart almost jumping a little as part of you began to actually realize that the wedding was right around the corner, that you wouldn’t see Negan again at the breakfast table as usual, but instead in the church, at the altar.  
“Fuck, c’mere”, Negan’s voice echoed through to you, allowing you to slip out of those thoughts one more time as he leaned in to wrap his arms around you, obviously noticing the look on your face and the slight tension in your body.  
You melted against him the moment he settled you against his chest, relishing in his arms that made the whole turmoil that would await you tomorrow seem a little less scary. He cradled you a little, leaning his head against yours as you nuzzled your nose into the warmth of his neck and closed your eyes for a moment.  
“Sleep tight, alright?”, Negan mumbled into your hair, grasping you a little tighter before a small chuckle let his chest rumble against you,”We’re gonna rock that shit tomorrow.”  
“Yeah, we will”, you mumbled, leaning a little bit back to glance at him as his hazel eyes scanned over your face, letting the fuzzy feeling they created fight the suspense a little more before his glance skipped for a second from your face to your robe that laid loosely over your bare skin before he let out a sigh.  
”Shit, gotta get out now. You’re makin’ me nervous with that bathrobe”, he chuckled, teasingly biting his lip as you nudged him playfully, receiving an even thicker chuckle before he let his arms fall from your body once for all.  
”Goodnight, Baby”, he mumbled, almost forcing himself to finally get himself to the door and to eventually slip out of it.  
”Goodnight.”

As soon as the door closed and Negan’s footsteps descended, you slipped into your nightdress and found your way into the bed. You shifted beneath the sheets, trying to get comfy even though finding the right position seemed impossible, regardless how much you rolled around and moved from side to side, regardless how much you nuzzled your head into the soft pillows.  
You were restless, with your thoughts taking over now that you were alone and quiet while for once.  
You’d marry tomorrow.  
Tomorrow around this time, you’d already be a married woman.  
Everything in the last three weeks had circled around the wedding and still somehow, all the appointments and busyness they had brought along hadn’t given you the time to actually realize that you’d marry soon.  
And this soon had shrunken to way less than a day by now.  
Nervousness rose a little tension within you anew now that Negan wasn’t here to stop it, giving you this odd stirring feeling in your body as the thoughts slowly took over.  
You were happy to marry him, that was no question, still, this would mark a new chapter of your life after all and you knew that you would have to start it without your mother and sister, oppositely to what you’d always wished for.  
Groaning in anger about your inability in this moment to keep your head silent, you shifted over the bed, as if it would absorb your thoughts but instead, the feeling of being alone, cooped up in a room that was so big and yet felt so small in this night only intensified.  
You had to get out of here, at least for a tiny bit, just until the storm in your head had calmed a little.  
And so you didn’t lose anymore time, didn’t give the thoughts any more possibility to take over as swung your legs out of your bed, heft yourself from the mattress, pulled a night robe over your arms and slipped into a pair scuffs, ready to make your way to the place that had become your favorite spot in the castle as well by now.

The journey up the countless stairs and hallways seemed easier than ever before, fueled by your urge to get some fresh air to fill your lungs and let your eyes brush over the wide forests until you finally reached the last staircase.  
Slowly, you made your way up the stone steps, up until the you could feel the wind brushing against your skin. Two more steps and the nightsky greeted you along with a bright moon and uncountable stars that twinkled at the firmament.  
Taking a deep breath you strolled towards the bench, finding the pillows and cushions on its stone right where you had left them the day before with Negan.  
Smiling tiredly you fell onto them, pulling your legs up against your chest to warm yourself a little while your eyes stared out onto the forest and the lake in which the moon prettily reflected itself.  
This was much better than rolling from side to side in your bed inside, the thoughts were still there but they didn’t seem to swirl around you like a big cloud anymore, somehow they distributed in the chilly nightair and gave you some space to breath.  
Breathing deeply out you closed your eyes for a moment, enjoying the little breeze that blowed softly through some loose strands of your hair and seemed to brush some more of those thoughts away.  
”Looks like we had the same idea, huh?”, a sudden deep voice made you flinch and rip your eyes back up, shooting them towards its source that just came up the stairs and grinned at you with a roguish yet exhausted grin.  
”Shit, didn’t even hear you come up”, you mumbled, releasing your legs from your hug so you could bob yourself back up.  
”Noticed that”, he chuckled, running his hand over his beard as you shifted from side to side, unsure what to do, this was his place after all.  
”I’ll go back to my room”, you finally brought out as he made a few steps towards you only to shake his head as soon as he heard you.  
”No, stay. You don’t have to clear space for me”, he said, before nodding quickly back to the stairs,”’Except you wanna get back downstairs.”  
You shook your head, wrapping your night robe a little tighter around you while the grin on Negan’s lips grew a little wider.  
“Oh and also, we’re not spending the damn night, we just keep each other company for a little, if that’s what’s coursing there through that pretty head”, he chuckled, picking up a thought you hadn’t even given attention yet before you shook the befuddled feeling off of yourself and fell back onto the bench.  
Negan joined you, wrapping the light cloak around his shoulders a little tighter over the shirt and loose pants that were covering his tall body. The silence had been nice, no question, but a part of you, especially as soon as you glanced over at Negan, felt relieved that he was there with you, loosening the atmosphere a little more and giving you that small warmth back he seemed to be able to elicit within you.  
“Can’t sleep too, huh?”, he mumbled, leaning with a low hum back against the pillow as you slowly shook your head, watching as his eyes wandered over your face, seemingly waiting for more.  
”Too nervous”, you finally brought out, glancing quickly back to your hands that fumbled with one another,”And I think…I guess I hadn’t really realized it till now…we were so busy all the time.”  
”Got regrets?”, he replied quicker than you’d expected, leading your eyes back towards him, the roguishness retreating from his face as something that even looked like concern took its place.  
”What? No”, you quickly responded, shaking your head immediately.  
”I’m glad I get to marry you, really. You can believe me that”, you mumbled, giving him a small smile as the concern slowly beat retreat again, as you shuffled a little deeper onto the bench.  
“I mean,…else I wouldn’t be so comfy around you in the matter of what? A few weeks? Never thought that’d ever happen to me so quickly”, it sneaked out of your lips, finally speaking out some of those thoughts that’d been coursing through your head before your eyes met his hazel ones in the fair light of the moon.  
”Well, I’m sure as shit one lucky fucker too”, he chuckled, running his palm over his salt and pepper stubble while the warmth in you just increased, even as a colder breeze brushed over you and brought a shudder over your back.  
”Ah crap”, he groaned, fumbling on the cord of the cloak to loosen it until he could brush it off his shoulders, already trying to pass it over to you as you shook your head softly.  
”Oh no, it’s fine. C’mon you’re already getting goosebumps”, you nodded towards his arms, before he simply shrugged his shoulders.  
”Nope, nope, ya gotta stay warm. My old ass is fine with some cold”, he chuckled, waiting until you began to nod after all and felt him slowly dropping the cloak over your shoulders, ”There ya go.”  
”Thanks”, you mumbled, wrapping the fabric a little tighter around you, feeling how the warmth he had brought into it enclosed you along with his scent and let you snuggle a little deeper into it.  
”You’re damn welcome”, he chuckled, right before he shot you another grin,”Plus, maybe you can help me stay warm.”  
”Ah so that’s why”, you joked, nodding to his cloak hugging your body as he shook his head with a thick laugh and opened his arms for you.  
Slowly, you shuffled towards him until you could cuddle against his side, nuzzle your nose into his warm neck while his hands first swung your legs over his, before allowing his arms to wrap around the cocoon like figure your were forming with his cloak.  
”Good thing I came up here after all”, he mumbled into your hair as you hummed in approval, feeling how he pulled you a little deeper into his embrace. Oh this felt good. Safe and comfy, just like you had before the fireplace and even though a part of you still questioned what kind of spell he had put on you to feel so eased wrapped up in his arms, the rest of you overpowered it and just let you enjoy the moment.  
“Y’know, we could prepone some stuff from tomorrow to beat some of that nervousness”, Negan mumbled after a couple of moments, letting you raise your head out of his neck’s crook to glance up at him.  
“And what would that be?”, you mumbled, raising your brows slightly as his hazel eyes caught yours, before they suddenly dropped down to your lips and slowly, slowly let it dawn on you what he was thinking about there.  
”Oh”, it slipped out of your lips, surprised and a little bit befuddled as his glance darted back up, giving you a small grin that only intensified the stirring he had just enflamed even more.  
”We don’t have to, just an idea”, he said, shrugging his shoulders as goosebumps began to slowly spread over your skin,”Now it’s just us two, tomorrow we got the whole fucking church filled.”  
He was right. Tomorrow, you’d have your first kiss with him right after the ceremony, with a church full of people watching you, now, it was intimate and quiet, no pressure, no staring eyes. And most importantly, it was feeling right and no thoughts or anything else could undermine that feeling.  
”Okay”, you breathed out, nodding softly as you gave him a small smile and felt the heat rising as it streamed through your body, while Negan glanced a little longer at you, as if he wanted to make sure you were certain.  
But then, gradually, he leaned in, his hot breath brushing over your skin before his lips slowly captured yours.  
Their softness mixed perfectly with the roughness of his beard, spreading a new rush of goosebumps over your skin as he pulled you deeper into his arms, eliciting a hum to rumble up your throat as his lips teased over yours.  
Warm and gentler than you’d expected from him, that was his kiss at first, while he pulled you into a little bubble as your hand slowly reached up and cupped the side of his face as he slowly intensified his caresses. Groaning lowly, he moved his lips in rhythm with yours as his beard softly chaffed against your fingers and the sensitive skin of your face. You felt yourself letting go, allowing him to pamper you with his lips and his hand that caressed over the side of your waist, forming a smile on your lips as his skilled and now passionate movements made the butterflies in your stomach go wild.  
And they got wilder until he slowly let go of your lips as soon as either of you had to breath new air into your lungs, still leaving you with a hunger in your body that stayed right there as he remained close enough to feel his hot breath on your skin.  
Nearly automatically your body followed its instinct to move a little closer again, enough curl Negan’s lips into a wide, wolfish smirk.  
“Oh you want more”, he grumbled with a low chuckle, right before you let out an involuntarily loud but relished hum as he sunk back into you, on his way to satisfy your hunger a little more. Negan grinned against your lips as soon as he heard you, pulling you closer against him while your fingers slipped from his jaw up into his hair and entangled in the dark locks at the nape of his neck while you continued to lose yourself in him.

”Good decision?”, Negan finally mumbled with a grin as he let go of you, letting you sink a litte down against him, enough to glance at you as you rested your head against his shoulder and nodded softly.  
”Mhmm”, you mumbled back, dropping your hand from his neck to his chest while you caught yourself glancing at him all moony.  
Shit, what the hell was he doing to you? Whatever it was, at this point you couldn’t deny that you liked it way more than you were scared of it, and that meant a whole lot. Besides, everything about the kiss had felt right and this dreamy feeling that was still stuck in you even after, was only confirming it.  
So you allowed yourself to stay all cuddled up to him, with more of your guards down than ever and a smile on your face that just didn’t want to leave your face until both of you slowly realized that it was time for you to finally head to bed if you wanted to be ready for the wedding.

”Got real comfy in that cloak, huh?”, Negan quietly chuckled as you made your way through the hallway, nodding towards your figure that was still wrapped in the dark fabric.  
”Hmm”, you nodded, feeling how he slung his arm a little tighter around your waist as soon as you approached the last corner before you’d reach your room, “You want it back?”  
”Nah, keep it”, he said, shaking his head a little as the roguish grin on his lips grew a little wider, “Like how you look in something of mine. Gets me fuckin’ going, ain’t gonna lie.”  
Heat rushed back into your cheeks that got paired with the stirring feeling in your body’s middle, while you let out a small laugh to play off the obvious blush on your face and nudged his side playfully.  
”What, it’s damn hot”, he chuckled, giving your waist a teasing squeeze as he sneaked his tongue over his lower lip with relish,”And I know you like it too.”  
”Yeah, can’t deny that one”, you mumbled, feeling Negan’s body shaking slightly against yours as a laugh rumbled through his chest before it suddenly stopped as you reached the heavy door that lead to your room.  
”Well, shit”, he breathed out, eventually letting go of you as he opened the heavy door with a soft groan and ran his palm over his stubble, “Looks like this is the final ‘goodnight’ now, huh?”  
”Yeah”, you mumbled, gulping softly as the bubble he had created around you up at the tower slowly began to burst and put you back into the reality.  
”Hope I could get rid of that nervousness of yours, at least a little”, he chuckled, winking at you as he smirked a little brighter and reached out for you to pull you carefully back into his embrace.  
Nodding, you rested your hands on his chest, glancing up at him as he cradled you against him, “Yes, you did.”  
”Great…on the other side, can’t hurt to be on the damn safe side, huh?”, he lowly said, biting his lip as he brought a new wave of warmth over you while you slowly began to nod once more, the hunger for him already flaring up again.  
”Hmm thought so”, he mumbled, flashing his grin one more time before he leaned in and captured your lips. A low hum rumbled up his chest and let it vibrate softly against your hands, bringing back the whirlwind of emotions from before as his lips moved with relish over yours.  
“Goodnight, Sweetheart”, Negan gravelly mumbled as soon as his lips slowly parted from yours, though his arms stayed wrapped tightly around you.  
“Goodnight”, you mumbled back before you slowly made yourself back away from each other, watching as Negan gave you a little tired grin before a yawn slipped out of his lips.  
“Shit, really gotta get going”, he laughed, running a hand over his face before he smirked at you,”Then see ya in front of the altar…and til then, have some dirty dreams.”  
“Will be easier than ever”, you chuckled back before he grinned one last time at you, before he breathed deeply out and eventually turned on his heels to finally make his way down the hallway.   
You kept standing in the doorframe until he disappeared behind the first corner, still trying to process what had happened as part of you could still feel and taste his lips on yours. Finally, you peeled yourself away from the door and slipped back inside, blowing the candle out and cuddling yourself into your bed with a content smile on your lips, feeling much better than before.  
You breathed deeply out, pulling the blankets tighter around your body as you nuzzled your head into the comfy pillows and closed your eyes, expecting for a moment that the thoughts would come back and whirl through your head but instead, you felt light and relaxed, with only a little rest-nervousness biting here and there into you, but which was nothing that could compete to the calmness that was now washing over you.  
You would marry tomorrow.   
And while a part of you still thought of it as surreal, the rest of you actually couldn’t wait anymore.


End file.
